The Lobby Conference wrapped up Saturday morning after an evening which saw many of Silicon Valley’s best and brightest letting off quite a bit of steam. It was a fun night, and all in all a terrific event. Great time catching up with friends in the biz, meeting some terrific new friends who I’m sure I find a way to work with, and, last but not least, hanging out in a spectacular setting. Hats off to David Hornik for a masterful job.

It’s hard to feel sorry for myself over having a long trip back from Hawaii, but man it sure was long.

I flew from the Big Island to San Fran last night with a bunch of fellow Lobby conference-goers. During the flight I heard a startup pitch, and hung out with Mike Sigal, Cindy Hess and Mark Pincus. Even shot a video of the four of us kibbitzing in the galley.

While everyone else got off the plane and headed to their own beds for the night, Jay Adelson and I dragged ourselves a couple gates down to hop on the redeye to NYC (that is, after stopping at the airport bar and watching the last 2 innings of Red Sox World Series Victory number 3. GO SOX!). After sitting on the runway for about an hour, we got the news that the copilot had never shown up and so the flight was cancelled.

I managed to find another redeye, this one to Chicago, and spent the night snuggled up with a total stranger in the seat next to me. I hope I didn’t drool or snore too loudly. Landed in Chicago at 5:30, caught the 7 am flight to LaGuardia, met with an Israeli startup in the LaGuardia food court, and caught the noon shuttle home.

I arrived home just in time to join the family for an afternoon of pumpkin picking, cider, and a haunted house. And now we are resting up before the beginning of Game 4.